A biometric access control and time and attendance system comprises an integrated network including one or more remote access devices in electronic communication with a computer database. Each remote access device comprises a silicon chip based system and preferably includes a biometric input device, a liquid crystal display (LCD), computer processing capabilities based on embedded system architecture with configurable system-on-chip (CSOC) technology, and an electrical output for controlling a door lock or the like. The use of CSOC architecture in lieu of conventional personal computer technology (e.g. mother boards, hard drives, video controllers and the like) allows for a more compact and cost efficient design. A plurality of remote access devices is configured for communication with a primary computer database wherein data corresponding to biometric samples for all authorized users is stored. In an embodiment wherein the biometric input devices comprise fingerprint scanners, the devices are configured to facilitate fingerprint identification by incorporating an auto-targeting capability that enables the user to simply place his or her finger on the fingerprint scanner whereafter the system adjusts the scanned image by automatically shifting the scanned image data to a properly targeted position thereby enabling the system compare the scanned print to the biometric samples in the system's data storage memory. Auto-targeting capability eliminates the requirement for manual targeting present in systems of the background art thereby improving system performance and minimizing reliance on human interaction. The present invention contemplates the use of auto-targeting with other biometric systems, such as facial recognition and/or retinal scanning systems, or any other biometric identification technology.